Episode 235 is all about Talarurus, the “wicker tailed” ankylosaurid from Mongolia.

We also have an interview with Brian Engh, a paleoartist, who has illustrated many of the recent dinosaur finds including Aquilops, Dynamoterror, and Invictarx, to name a few. He also makes puppets, movies, and music. Follow him on Patreon at historianhimself, or Facebook, twitter, YouTube, or his website.

In the interview, we learn about some of Brian’s latest projects, including his work with:

Episode 233 is all about Chungkingosaurus, one of the smallest known stegosaurs.

We also interview Andrew McDonald, curator and an educator at the Western Science Center in Hemet, California. His research focuses on the evolution of dinosaurs in North America during the Cretaceous, and he regular does field work in New Mexico. Since becoming curator, he’s already named two new dinosaurs: Dynamoterror and Invictarx.

Big thanks to all our patrons! Your support means so much to us and keeps us going! If you’re a dinosaur enthusiast, join our growing community on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino.

Probably looked similar to Tuojiangosaurus (found in the same formation), though smaller, with a high, narrow skull

Probably had two rows of plates and spikes on its back, possibly arranged in pairs

A model of Chunkingosaurus at the Chongqing Municipal museum has 14 pairs of plates, 2 pairs of tail spikes, and the plates in the middle look like thick spikes (similar to Tuojiangosaurus)

Only one specimen found with a thagomizer (tail spikes), and there were two pairs and they were vertical and stout. May have had a third pair, but it was lost during excavation

Fossils found in 1977

Described in 1983 by Dong Zhiming and others

Type species is Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis

Name means “Chungking lizard”

Named for where the fossils were found, in the Jiangbei district of Chungking municipality

Four specimens have been found. Zhiming and others described all four, but named the three additional specimens as specimen, 1, 2, and 3, because there are distinctions between the three, but the specimens are too fragmentary in nature

In 2014, Roman Ulanksy named two of the species as new species, Chunkingosaurus giganticus and Chunkingosaurus magnus. But later Peter Galton and Kenneth Carpenter said they were nomina dubia, and referred them both to Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis

Gregory Paul suggested in 2010 that the third specimen was a juvenile of Tuojiangosaurus

Part of Huayangosauridae, a group of basal stegosaurs

May have been prey for theropods such as Yangchuanosaurus

Other dinosaurs that lived in the same time and place included Tuojiangosaurus, and sauropods like Mamenchisaurus

Fun Fact:
A typical theropod is about 3 times as long as it is tall when in a walking/running posture.

In the UK, you can now buy Easter-themed chocolate dinosaurs at both Aldi and Marks & Spencer source

Metahub posted a list of the best and worst dinosaurs in Jurassic World Alive source

The dinosaur of the day: Nodosaurus

Ankylosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now North America

Herbivorous

Estimated to be about 13 to 20 ft (4 to 6 m) long

Had bony plates on the top of its body, and may have had spikes on the side of its body

Bony plates were like bands, alternating between narrow and wide bands over the ribs

The wider bands were also covered in bony knobs

Had a short neck and a long, stiff tail (no club)

Had a small, narrow head, pointed snout, small teeth, and powerful jaws

Had five toes on each foot

Had powerful forelimbs

Named in 1889 by Othniel Charles Marsh (very brief description)

Richard Swan Lull gave a more detailed description in 1921

Lull also described flat scutes, spines, and plates, though he did not illustrate them

Carpenter and Kirkland revisited the description in 1998

In 2015, a 4-year-old boy, Wylie Brys found what’s thought to be a Nodosaurus fossil in Mansfield, Texas. He and his father Tim were looking around behind a shopping center. At first they thought it was s turtle fossil. They reached out to Southern Methodist University and worked with them to excavate the area

Type species is Nodosaurus textilis

Name means “knobbed lizard”

Species name refers to the texture near the head (small ossifications in quadrangular form, arranged in rows. Marsh said “The external surface is perculiarly marked by a texture that appears interwoven, like a coarse cloth. This has suggested the species name.”

Nodosaurus is the type genus for the nodosaurid group

Two groups in Ankylosauria: nodosaurids and ankylosaurids

Nodosaurids are usually more primitive, and they don’t have tail clubs, and generally skulls are not as short or broad as ankylosaurids, and the skulls were not covered in scutes

Can see Nodosaurus in the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (a.k.a. Normanpedia), illustrated by John Sibbick in 1889

Can also see Nodosaurus in the Land Before Time series (appears in the 3rd movie, as a character named Nod)

Can also see Nodosaurus in the game Jurassic World Evoution (unlock via the Hammond Foundation when you complete the Science Division’s mission on Isla Tacaño. Model is based on Borealopelta

Fun Fact:
For the tyrannosaur linneage to evolve from Moros interpidus size to T. rex size they would have needed to grow about 4 grams per generation.S

Tyrannosaurid that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Inner Mongolia, at the Iren Dabasu Formation

Only one species: Alectrosaurus olseni

Name means “Alone lizard”

Found in 1923 as part of the Third Asiatic Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, led by Walter W. Granger

Named in 1933 by Charles Gilmore

Species name in honor of George Olsen, assistant paleontologist, who discovered the fossils, including a nearly complete right hindlimb, part of the right femur, tibia, fibular, toes, hand, and part of the pubis

Olsen also found a second specimen nearby (included humerus, fingers, vertebrae)

Other fossils have been referred to Alectrosaurus, found in China and Uzbekistan

Medium-sized, bipedal carnivore

Could grow up to 16.4 ft (5 m) long, and had a similar body shape to T. rex

One of the top predators of its time, along with Gigantoraptor

Probably preyed on ornithischians, such as Bactrosaurus and Gilmoreosaurus

Tibia and femur were similar in length (different from other tyrannosauroids, where the tibia is longer)

Also, the hind foot and ankle were closer in size to the tibia than other tyrannosauroids (hind foot is usually longer)

Some scientists have thought Alectrosaurus olseni was a species of Albertosaurus, but Carr in 2005 said Alectrosaurus had a number of distinguishing characteristics, and was its own genus

Fun Fact:

“odon” is historically one of the most common dinosaur name endings, but it is used much less often these days.

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you in part by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and animatronics. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs

Episode 182 is all about Monolophosaurus a meat eating Chinese dinosaur with a single head crest.

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Universal Pictures released a featurette of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The dinosaur of the day: Monolophosaurus

Appears in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder game, as well as Jurassic World: The Game (not originally in the game, but added in August 2015, and you can unlock it in the level 55 battle area), and will also be in the game Jurassic World: Alive

Tetanuran theropod that lived in the Jurassic in what is now Xinjiang, China (Shishugou Formation)

Type species (only species) is Monolophosaurus jiangi

Found a nearly complete skeleton in 1981 on a Canadian-Chinese expedition, and it took 3 years to excavate

Referred in the media in 1987 as Jiangjunmiaosaurus before it was officially described, and that was an invalid nomen nudum (naked name)

Dong Shiming mentioned it as Monolophosaurus jiangjunmiaoi in 1992, and by Wayne Grady as Monolophosaurus dongi in 1993, but there was no description so these are nomina nuda

Described in 1993/1994 by Zhao Xijin and Philip Currie and named Monolophosaurus jiangi

Genus name means “single-crested lizard”

Had one crest on top of its skull

Species name refers to Jiangjunmiao, an abandoned desert inn near where the specimen was found

Jiangjunmiao means “the temple of the general”, and there’s a local legend that a general was buried there

Holotype consists of a skull, lower jaws, vertebral column, and pelvis, and is either an adult or subadult

Thomas Carr suggested in 2006 that Guanlong (theropod from the same formation with a crest) was a subadult Monolophosaurus. In 2010 Gregory Paul renamed Guanlong as a second species of Monolophosaurus, Monolophosaurus wucaii, but in 2010 Stephen Brusatte rejected this, and said that the Guanlong holotype was an adult, not a subadult

Originally thought to be a megalosaur and was often thought to be an allosauroid, though now thought to be a tetanuran

Thought to be most closely related to Chuandongocoelurus (another tetanuran that lived in the Jurassic in China)

Tetanurans are “stiff tailed” theropods with straight tails that had a series of tendons

Fun Fact:

Some crocodilians grow into a color to match the water they live in. And a new study shows that baby Sunda gharials can change the color of their belly to match the brightness of their environment.

This episode was brought to you by:

TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and exhibits. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs.